


part of the party

by hrtbnr



Category: Cow Chop, Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Fake AH Crew, Fake Chop, Female!Jack, M/M, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-13
Updated: 2018-02-13
Packaged: 2019-03-17 20:33:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,738
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13666785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hrtbnr/pseuds/hrtbnr
Summary: "It was a business, but mostly a game, and Aleks had been playing it for a really long time."





	part of the party

**Author's Note:**

> this is more of me just getting a feel for the universe or whatever idk. gotta find the voice my guys

It was a business, but mostly a game, and Aleks had been playing it for a really fucking long time. Back in his small east coast town he’d run with a smaller crew, doing the kind of shit kids with even smaller ideas always found themselves doing. He’d taken a step up from there, and then another, westward, and then he met James, and the rest of the guys, and then there were even more moves. It was fucking weird and made him lucky, and he tried not to forget that all of the time.

Before all that was Russia, and it had been just as good there as it was bad. He didn’t think about it much. Couldn’t find the time to; climbing the ladder of organized crime required a surprising amount of organization, fucking _work,_ and work could eat up more hours than a day even had. If you kept busy enough you actually could run from your past. You just couldn’t ever stop.

When he met James, and the crime game started turning into more of a business, Aleks thought, well, shit, this is going to be rough as hell.  He knew it was dramatic as fuck, but when the Fake AH Crew came up from Los Santos to their Colorado operation, after they managed to make a bit of a name for themselves, they brought expensive liquor and new, shiny guns, and didn’t really ask for anything except _their word_ in the form of a handshake, and Aleks couldn’t stop thinking of _blood._  The stories he’d heard about the AH Crew, the things they’d done, wanted to do, probably, definitely threatened to do, yeah, Aleks was a criminal but he’d never been as big and dangerous and hungry as the Fakes. Didn’t really ever want to be.  When he shook Geoff’s hand he felt all that blood rub off onto his own. Felt sick from it.

James told him to calm the fuck down and stop reading shit on the internet. He called him a dickhead, and a pussy, and Aleks punched him in the shoulder but James didn’t have the decency to notice. Just swayed a little.

It wasn’t until everything fell apart with their crew, when James was angry all the time, the real kind that could change the temperature of a room, when he was talking about leaving, fuck the consequences, fuck everything, and _Aleks, Aleksandr, you’re coming with me, right?_ It wasn’t until after all that Aleks realized what was happening and what had been happening from the beginning of their big city alliance. Aleks stood with him in front of Geoff as James explained they were leaving, his back straight and jaw tight. Told him what he wanted, what they, together, him and Aleks, were planning on doing and how they were going to do it. He wasn’t asking for permission, and they both knew what it could mean for their relationship with the Fakes, but, you know, _did it have to ruin anything,_ really?

Aleks had been terrified, something he felt no qualms about admitting, repeatedly and loudly, during their entire trip to Los Santos. The Fakes could kill them. Might kill them. Probably would. Ramsey would get that masked nutcase after them or Mogar and his fucking explosives, two very, very different but equally undesirable kinds of deaths.

James only laughed. Like a fucking piece of shit.

What was happening, what had been happening the entire time, what should have been obvious to Aleks, didn’t become clear until Geoff just stood up and shrugged and laughed, saying, “This is going to be a fucking perfect disaster and I can’t wait, dude. Good luck. If you need anything, we got your back.”

He shook both their hands, still laughing, high pitched and upsettingly delightful _,_ and said, “Not now, time isn’t right, but you guys should think about Los Santos. You’d do great here. And we’d be happy to have you closer,” and Aleks finally understood that it had always sort of, kind of, been about James.

Ramsey wanted James as one of his _._ Saw something in him, wanted to keep him close, and Aleks felt that in his damn bones. That was the kind of shit he could relate to. And knowing it started the slow ass process of stripping away all the stuff he thought he knew about the Fakes, about Geoff’s AH Crew specifically, until it all started to look more familiar.

Under all the heists and murder, beneath their fat piles of money, the insanity for the sake of insanity, just fucking doing shit because they could, because it was fun, were hearts that beat for loyalty and taking care of their own and a surprisingly soft, between those who mattered, affection. Aleks had only been able to see it because it was something he’d learned first, and best, from James. It was why Ramsey wanted him. And why Aleks wanted him too, in a much different way.

After that, things moved fucking fast _._  They recruited a bit, bounced off the Colorado state lines until everything felt small _,_ restricting, and it took one perfect heist with the Fakes, AH and Haus, in New York, for the fences keeping them in place to begin cracking. James wanted to go, so did Trevor and Asher, and Aleks did too but Los Santos, being so close to Geoff, to the real fucking dark, gritty shit, that life, the code of it, the attitudes, twisted something unpleasant inside him.

He wanted everything he knew they could do there. Wanted that life. But he wanted James, too, more than any of it. Thought sometimes James wanted him the same way. And as good, as fucking _beautiful,_ as that life in Los Santos sounded, Aleks was sure it would leave no room for the one he wanted with James.

Organized crime was never known for being a nice, queer-friendly place. Even in 2017.

But James said, “Trust me,” and threw his arm around Aleks’ shoulders. And he did trust James, always had, always would, and he’d follow him into a house fire if he promised they wouldn’t get burned.

And they _didn’t._ They fucking _wouldn’t._

Because the first night they were there, all their shit still sitting unpacked in a warehouse on the other side of the city, Aleks watched _Mogar_ and the fucking _Golden Boy_ from the other side of a booth in a shitty, hole-in-the-wall bar. Watched Michael take a long sip of his beer, unfazed as Gavin crawled into his lap, pushing his sunglasses up so they wouldn’t get in the way of _kissing_ Michael’s fucking _neck._ Aleks’ eyes caught and lingered on Gavin’s fingers as they twisted into the collar of Michael’s leather jacket, tugging him closer.

And Michael _laughed,_ said, “What are you doing, boy?”

And Gavin fucking _hummed_ , and said, “Michael, let’s go home, Michael. I missed you, love, you were gone for ages.”

Michael rolled his eyes, but was petting the back of Gavin’s head as he turned to Aleks, made a face like, _this guy, can you believe this fuck,_ and said, “Three days in Jersey, in the winter, _is_ actually ‘ages.’ I can’t even argue with this shit.”

Aleks blinked at him, but couldn’t do much else.

A brief, unhappy look flashed across Mogar’s face but was gone before Aleks could register it properly, then he stood up, hefting a squawking Gavin up with him, and yelled, “I’m spoiled by all this never fucking ending sunshine. Fuck! One more beer.” And then they were gone.

Somewhere at the bar James was laughing, loud and obnoxious, and was joined a second later by Ramsey’s, what could only be described as, giggling.  They weren’t trying to hide anything. No one was hiding _anything,_ it seemed. Not in this bar, not in this city, and not from each other. And Aleks thought of what Geoff had said when they’d first arrived at the bar they were told to be at, commanded like it was a work order, _come in here and get plastered with your fucking family, you losers._

They weren’t family. But for some reason Aleks sort of wanted to be. And that it was probably a good thing.

After a while, a gentle but not fucking around voice knocked him out of his head, and Aleks looked up to see Jack sitting where Michael had been, her face flushed as rosy as her hair.

“What?”

“I asked if it’s going to be a problem for you?” she repeated, without needing to clarify what she was talking about. There was only the one fucking thing. “No one actually cares if it is. I’m asking because you just got here and I don’t _want_ this to start off on the wrong foot. So, I’m asking, but it’s not a question.”

“You can have an answer anyway, dude. Nope. It’s not a fucking problem _at all._ I’m - it’s not a problem.”

She folded her arms on the table and smiled, so big and bright that it was easy for Aleks to smile back. Everything felt very suddenly like it would all be _easy._ At least in a few, very important ways.

“Great.” She sighed, and a little softer, said, “Good.” Jack reached to close her hand around one of his. “‘We _like_ you, both of you, and want this to work out. Don’t fuck it up.”

When she stood up, Jack gave Aleks a sharp tug, getting him to his feet before releasing his hand, so he followed her to the bar where the rest of them were. Gavin was still tucked up against Michael’s side so Aleks didn’t let himself think about it much as he knocked into James’ back, rubbing his chin on his shoulder for a moment.  James was talking quietly under the music with Geoff, but he reached to cup Aleks’ cheek without hesitation.  Geoff was watching, his eyes bright and focused on James’ fingers against Aleks’ skin, and it felt nice and terrifying all at once.

That Geoff knew the spots where they were the weakest now, maybe always, and they had to trust him with it.  Had to be confident they’d never give him a reason to exploit it.

And just straight up relief.  Because Geoff chuckled, and biffed Aleks on the side of his head, just a little, and asked, “What are you drinking, kid?”

And it felt _good._


End file.
